Are you able to see what's happening during cataract surgery?

Depends on anestheia: If eye drop anestheia (topical) is used without an injection, you will see lights but not specific details of the surgery. If an injected block of anesthetic is used (retrobulbar, peribulbar block), you might not see anything at all because the optic nerve itself might be affected by the anesthetic. I use topical and people are not bothered by what they see.

Yes: Yes, but not really! during the procedure you may see lights and rainbows. You can not see much of the procedure during, because the surgeon is working inside the eye. Therefore you can not focus on what is taking place. This may be limited by the amount and type of anesthesia used. Typically it is described as rainbows and kaleidoscopic of light.

Yes: You are awake during the procedure. What i like to do is keep my patients awake so that i can guide and ease there way through the procedure.

Yes and no: Typically patient does not see the instruments. The patient feed back after surgery has been positive. They see the microscope light, colorful patterns and images that are pleasant during surgery. Immediately after surgery, the patient able to see it may be slightly cloudy due to corneal swelling and inflammation from surgery.